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My NBA Draft Grades

Here, I will give my NBA Draft grades, based on all the analytics stuff that I have heard and who else the team could have feasibly drafted. I’m sorry it took me so long; I was sick on Thursday, and I just wasn’t feeling it yesterday. For many players, I will write a short explanation, but not all. For international players, my default grade is a C+ unless I have more data. Many of my grades are based on work done at http://wagesofwins.com. Here wer go.

New Orleans: PF Anthony Davis- A+ Davis was far and away the best player in the draft. If New Orleans had not picked him, I think their front office would have lost a lot of credibility.

Charlotte: SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist B While Bradley Beal would have been a better choice, he’s much better than Harrison Barnes.

Washington: SG Bradley Beal A He and Davis are the only players picked by both of Arturo Galletti’s models who was a prospective Top 5 pick.

Cleveland: SG Dion Waiters B This grade may have been lower, but there was major indication that the Cavs were going to select Harrison Barnes. Thomas Robinson and Damian Lillard are better picks, but Barnes is much worse.

Sacramento: PF Thomas Robinson B+ He is a good player, but there are many who Arturo thinks will be better from this class. Hopefully, he’ll supplant DeMarcus Cousins and not Jason Thompson

Portland: PG Damian Lillard A The Weber St. grad, picked by both models, is definitely going to be an upgrade over Raymond Felton and Jonny Flynn.

Golden St.: SF Harrison Barnes F I was wondering which sucker would ultimately select Barnes. Turns out it was the Warriors.

Toronto: SG Terrence Ross C+ Jeremy Lamb would have been less of a reach and is projected by Arturo to be slightly better, but this is not a terrible pick.

New Orleans: SG Austin Rivers F Arturo’s system has him better than Barnes, but I suspect that’s just because he’s younger-he was below-average in every statistical category!

Portland: C Meyers Leonard F That noise you just heard was the cry of a horrified Blazers fan.

Houston: SG Jeremy Lamb B Any truly analytically-minded team would have picked John Henson.

Phoenix: PG Kendall Marshall C- I guess it’s a bad sign when your stats are low and some of the “experts” are unsure if you’ll ever be even a back-up point guard.

Milwaukee: PF John Henson A- No other guy selected by Yogi or Booboo (Arturo’s draft projection systems) had a decent shot of being drafted this high after Jared Sullinger’s back problems.

Philadelphia: SF Maurice Harkless C+ Jared Sullinger, anyone?

Houston: PF Royce White B At least they didn’t reach for Fab Melo.

Dallas (traded to Cleveland): C Tyler Zeller B- His age hurts his projections, but he had a very good senior season.

Houston: PF Terrence Jones C+ Daryl Morey, you need to turn in your “Analytical GM” hat unless this is part of some weird ploy to get Dwight Howard.

Orlando: PF Andrew Nicholson B+ The Magic actually made a really good pick. I guess they’re trying to replace either Ryan Anderson or Dwight Howard.

Denver: SG Evan Fournier F I checked his Win Score stats from the French league, and he’s closer to the bottom of the rankings than the top. Ouch.

Boston: C Jared Sullinger A- The minus is there because they’re at the point where it became feasible to draft either Jae Crowder or Will Barton.

Boston: C Fab Melo F This is just a terrible pick, especially considering how many good players were still on the board.

Atlanta: SG John Jenkins C+ At least he doesn’t project to hover around 0 win production.

Cleveland (traded to Dallas): SG Jared Cunningham C- There are just so many players left who are better. Besides, Mark Cuban commented on James Brocato’s overrated/underrated work!

Memphis: PG Tony Wroten, Jr. F Seriously. Now, it’s unquestionable that the Grizzlies are better off being lucky rather than good.

Indiana: PF Miles Plumlee C- This pick could have been so much better-Drew Gordon/Draymond Green anyone?

Miami (traded to Philadelphia): PF Arnett Moultrie C Next verse, same as the first.

Oklahoma City: PF Perry Jones III D The only rationale I can see for an analytically-minded team for drafting this guy is for use as trade bait, and his rights remain with the Thunder!

Chicago: PF Marquise Teague F If you need a back-up point so badly, there are these guys named Sanders and Machado who went undrafted, while Will Barton would have helped fill a hole at shooting guard!

Golden St.: C Festus Ezeli F Arturo’s projection have Ezeli as the least productive NCAA player drafted. What a waste of a value pick.

Denver: PF Quincy Miller C- Two things: a) This has to be the first that two players with the same first name and the same school were picked back-to-back, and b) Did Denver fire the guys who picked Kenneth Faried last year?

Detroit: SF Khris Middleton F Joe Dumars strikes again!

Portland: SF Will Barton A++ How the heck did he last this long? Even the “experts” projected that he would go in the first round!

Portland (traded to Brooklyn): PG Tyshawn Taylor F I think Mikhail Prokhorov needs to learn more about running an NBA team as opposed to a Russian business conglomerate. There are differences I’m sure.